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Trump Says Kamala Harris Not Qualified to Run, Falsely Claims She Was Not Born in U.S.; Kushner on Racist Birther Lie: "It's Something That's Out There"; Reporter to Trump: "Do You Regret All Your Lying" to Americans? Family Evacuates China Only to Get Coronavirus in Memphis; "HomeFront": Whether Military Should Evict Trump from White House if He Loses in November and Doesn't Go Quietly. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired August 14, 2020 - 14:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[14:30:00]

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: I don't think the media is insinuating anything. And that's not quite accurate what Jared Kushner said. He was asked about it and he responded to it. And he didn't say I don't know anything about it. He responded.

And if he doesn't know anything about it, he should say, I don't know and let's move on because that's not important right now. She is the V.P. pick for the Democrats. And I am happy to go up against her.

And Jared Kushner should be more emphatic as well. He should know better than to insinuate or to play footsy with this whole racist Birther saga.

He should understand what the president went through, how he gained his political footing, by saying the former president of the United States was not born in this country, sending investigators and so on, and finding nothing. Finding nothing. Demanding his birth certificate.

He should know from last time this is not a winning strategy for him.

And quite frankly, it's bigoted. It's tired. It's old.

And, as I said on my program last night, Brianna -- and I'm sure you struggle with this as well. How much oxygen do we give this B.S., these conspiracy theories just because they want to tar and smear and taint someone?

How much do we elevate this? Or if we don't talk about it, does it just fester? So, you know?:

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And that is the discussion, right, Don. I remember when Birtherism was starting to take hold. I was covering Congress. And it was at a time when it was, well, what do Republicans think about this?

And you noticed that a lot of them -- and not because I think they thought Obama wasn't born in the U.S., but because they weren't sure where they should stand to be politically safe. They started with their similar milk-toast answers, like you saw from

Kushner, giving life to this.

The question was: What do you do? Do you knock it down?

It's become very clear, when it came to Birtherism, there was at first this reticence on the part of the media to not give it life.

But it gets life. It gets life. It's a weed being watered somewhere else, right?

And you actually reached out to all of Kamala Harris's Republican colleagues in the Senate. This is so interesting. What did they say to you?

LEMON: We reached all 53. Only one responded. And at the was Senator John Kennedy, of Louisiana. It was my producers who reached out. My show staff also reached out.

His office responded. They said he -- his office, very polite. They said, at the time, they knew nothing about it and so, therefore, they didn't have a response.

We're reaching back out to them now to see, now that it's in the news, the president is responding to it, Jared Kushner is responding, if they have a response and will denounce it.

And there's also a very prominent Senator, who has asked to go off the record with, I'll just say, their response, because I don't want to give a gender. Once -- you can figure it out. There's only one in the Senate, right?

But there's one Republican Senator saying I want to go off the record. We have not agreed to that yet. But when we figure it out, we will let you know.

And as you know Lindsey Graham did put out a statement, did say Kamala Harris is born in this country. That is not in question.

But he did not really have anything nice to say about the Senator, except to say she is one of the most liberal people in the Senate.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: But he did denounce it and that means a lot.

KEILAR: He did state the facts about where she was born and her parents and everything.

I want to ask you a larger question about things being politicized. What isn't? Masks, the military, college football, kindergarten, and now snail mail.

What is this election going to be all about, as you see it?

LEMON: Well, it's about - obviously, everything is politicized. But I feel and I know this is -- at the very base of this, it's about race. It is about race. It's about race. It's about racism.

When you're looking at the postal service issue, what is at the bottom of that? It's about suppressing people, suppressing voters.

People have means, people who can go to a drop box or get their ballots early or just have means to be able to participate in this election in ways that poor people won't and disenfranchised people won't -- that mostly means African-Americans, right -- they will be able to do what African-Americans won't.

Look at who resuscitated Joe Biden's campaign. It was black folks. Look who is on the V.P. side. Black folks.

Look at what comes out of the president's mouth every day. Birtherism, what we're talking about now. Some sort of racist dog whistle and sometimes not a dog whistle.

This election is about race. And that's why I said Jared Kushner, all the Senators, all lawmakers, and the president should be emphatic about denouncing racist strategy.

This country is ready to move on. The events of the summer of 2020 have shown us people are in a different place when it comes to race.

[14:35:01]

We cannot let our foot off the gas. People who are in positions and have platforms, like us, should hold people in power accountable for their racism, racial blind spots, and just plain, out-in-the-open bigotry.

So, move over. Come into 2020, Republicans or Trump supporters. Get with the program. People are tired of the racist jargon and actions and B.S.

KEILAR: Don, thank you so much for coming on.

Late night with Don Lemon, 10:00 p.m. Eastern, we will be watching, "CNN TONIGHT."

Thanks, Don.

LEMON: Don't forget my podcast --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: My podcast, "SILENCE IS NOT AN OPTION."

KEILAR: "SILENCE IS NOT AN OPTION."

LEMON: We're talking about sports. And I think -- I know you have to go. But I think people should listen to it because we're talking sports.

And I'm talking to Bill Roaden (ph), who is a prominent, legendary sports caster and writer. He wonders whether integration was good for sports, black people and black colleges.

You have to tune. It's a very fascinating and provocative conversation.

KEILAR: I'm so glad you said that. Your podcast is excellent. You have such wonderful guests. And I've been listening and I really appreciate it, Don.

So, thank you so much.

LEMON: Thanks, Brianna. See you. Be safe.

KEILAR: All right. You, too.

Just in, the CDC revealing what you can and cannot do if you've recovered from coronavirus.

Plus, two parents evacuate their 8-year-old daughter from Wuhan, China, thinking the U.S. would be a safe place, only to have her contract COVID in Tennessee. They'll be with us here in moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:40:44]

KEILAR: Breaking news just in from CNN. New guides from the CDC saying people who have had coronavirus and recovered do not need to quarantine or get tested for up to three months. However, the agency says this only applies if you do not develop symptoms again.

Preliminary research suggests that after someone is infected, their risk of reinfection may be lower in the first few months. But that natural immunity will decline over time as antibodies to the virus decrease within months.

A question asked at the president's White House coronavirus briefing yesterday got a whole lot of attention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

S.V. DATE, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "HUFFINGTON POST": Mr. President, after three and a half years, do you regret, at all, all of the lying you've done to the American people?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All the what?

DATE: All the lying, all the dishonesty.

TRUMP: That who has done?

DATE: You have done.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Please? Please?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Joining me now is the reporter who put the president on the spot there. S.V. Date is with us. He's the senior White House correspondent with the "Huffington Post."

S.V., tell us why you asked this question. And did you know that it would get a response like it has?

DATE: On the response part, no, I had no idea it would be taking off like it has. I've been wanting to ask him about that since the very first event in 2019. And have not had the opportunity to do so until yesterday.

And it seems to be the key question of his presidency. Sometimes it's not important, but sometimes, in the middle of a crisis, it is.

And I wanted to see whether, given any reflection, given all this time, maybe he had regrets about it. And apparently not.

KEILAR: Did you think he would answer it?

DATE: I wasn't sure. Sometimes he picks fights and will say, you're fake news or you're lying.

I didn't know what was going to happen. But I thought there was a decent chance he would pick someone else and that's what happened.

KEILAR: There's a deep divide between people critical of the president. They feel very deeply their objections to the president's repeated tens of thousands of lies.

But when it comes to the White House press corps, there's also, I think -- yes, I guess I would say criticism of the question you asked.

I spoke to a number of colleagues about that and what I learned is they respect you personally. I heard that from a lot of people.

They wondered, especially in your capacity of a print pooler, if that was an appropriate question or a stunt.

And I wonder, what do you say to folk whose say maybe that wasn't an appropriate question. What's your reaction to that?

DATE: Sure. And I get that. But I've been doing this for a long time. And I think I understand that when -- when someone that we're covering is going to lie to you most of the time, there's not a whole lot of point in asking, what do you think of the payroll tax or this vaccine.

A lot of the time, he doesn't know the answer or just makes something up.

The one key question that we all have, I think, is, why does he do this. And we're entitled to an answer.

It's fine in a democracy to disagree about policies. That's what we're about. That's why we have debates and legislatures. That's why we have this whole giant system.

But it's not OK to not tell the truth. That is a problem. We're entitled to that.

Whether you voted for the president or didn't, you're entitled to accurate information about what's going on about what he sees as his policies. And what the White House is saying about them ought to be accurate.

They work for us, in the end. Let's not forget that.

[14:45:04]

I wrote a long piece about this in January and hypothesized what would happen if there was a real crisis where the president's leadership really mattered. And, within weeks, here we were.

KEILAR: S.V., I know this resonated with a lot of people.

And I appreciate you coming on to be with us and talk about it.

DATE: It's been my pleasure. Thanks for having me.

KEILAR: Thank you.

We've heard Trump claim falsely on multiple occasions that children are immune to COVID-19. But my next guests, who are parents, know full well kids and catch and transmits coronavirus.

The Dickeys were living in China with their 8-yar-old daughter, Hermione, when the novel coronavirus broke out.

Dad, James, was working 200 miles away. Mom, Pricilla, and their 8- year-old daughter were able to board one of the U.S. evacuation flights out of Wuhan.

And they escaped and they were safe until their daughter caught the virus here in the U.S. in Memphis, Tennessee.

I want to thank you both for being with me. Thank you so much.

Your daughter, Hermione, just tested positive for coronavirus last week.

And, James, I know you tested positive, along with your parents.

Tell us, first, how everyone is doing.

JAMES DICKEY, FATHER OF 8-YEAR-OLD WHO CAUGHT COVID-19 IN MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE: Well, we're hanging in there. Luckily, most of our symptoms have been mild so far. And we're staying in quarantine, staying home, and trying to ride it out right now.

KEILAR: And, Pricilla, when you were leaving, I imagine there was considerable relief getting out of Wuhan.

Did you ever think the real risk for your family was going to be in the U.S.?

PRICILLA DICKEY, MOTHER OF 8-YEAR-OLD WHO CAUGHT COVID-19 IN MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE: No. Never. I thought that we were getting out. And when it all hit, I was like, oh, my gosh. Yes, it was never something that came to mind when we were on that plane.

KEILAR: Did it feel like you were leaving the threat behind, that you were relieved?

P. DICKEY: Yes. The build up to leaving, I thought, wow, this -- we're able to get out. I can -- we can be safe.

KEILAR: Of course. That's what everyone thought on those planes.

And you're both in this unique position because you saw how China handled the coronavirus and saw how the U.S. is doing.

James, compare what you saw there compared to the U.S.

J. DICKEY: It's night and day, to be honest. You had to, of course, wear masks, get your temperature checked.

And it got to a point where people were being blockaded inside of their apartment, inside of their apartments. People were not outside.

And here, everybody are going out and doing what they want to do. And there doesn't seem to be much concern as to whether people are going to transmit this disease or not.

KEILAR: And somewhere between draconian measures, like you saw in China, and completely letting this thing fly free, is this discussion of what's done in the middle.

So, I wonder, Priscilla, as you watch what Americans are doing, what do you think about how seriously they're taking the virus, considering what you know as a mom?

P. DICKEY: I have to say they're not taking it seriously enough. Where I live right now is a small little town and they don't have a whole lot of cases. There's not a whole lot of fear for it.

But at the same time, we have to be more cautious about how we're going out and what we're doing.

And school is going to be starting. We have to think about how we want to get our kids back into school, if they're going to school. And just think about the community as a whole.

KEILAR: Well, Pricilla and James, I'm sorry you're dealing with this. I'm so glad to know your family is doing well. I hope that continues to be the case.

And I want to thank you both for talking to us.

P. DICKEY: Thank you.

J. DICKEY: Thank you.

[14:49:37]

KEILAR: We have breaking news. The postal service is warning several states may not be able to deliver ballots in time for the election, depending on current election rules. Part of the reason, lags in mail delivery time. Some of the states include Washington, Pennsylvania, California and North Carolina. Stand by for more details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Today, on "HOMEFRONT," our digital and television column where we try to bridge the military/civilian divide, we're talking about whether the military should evict Trump should he lose in November.

If that sounds crazy, welcome to 2020.

An open letter from retired Army officer, John Nagl, and retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Paul Yingling this week, in national security publication, "Defense One," is calling for exactly that.

This is the key line: "If Donald Trump refuses to leave office at the expiration of his constitutional term, the United States military must remove him by force and you must give that order."

[14:55:06]

They address this letter to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Mark Milley.

And this sparked big fiery conversations in military and civilian communities alike. And it prompted an op-ed also in "Defense One" in response.

Quote, "The military won't save us. And you shouldn't want them to. It is deeply irresponsible, not to mention organizationally nonsensical, to suggest that General Milley should evict an election-losing Trump from the White House."

One of the authors calling it irresponsible and nonsensical is joining me now. And that is Jim Golby, a senior fellow at the Clement Center for National Security at the University of Texas, Austin. And he's also co-host of a podcast called "Thank You for Your Service."

Jim, thanks for coming on.

JIM GOLBY, SENIOR FELLOW, CLEMENT CENTER FOR NATIONAL SECURITY, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, AUSTIN & CO-HOST, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES' "THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE" PODCAST: Thanks so much for having me on, Brianna.

KEILAR: So this was a swift reaction that you had to this initial op- ed. Tell me why you and your co-author felt it was necessary to respond.

GOLBY: Well, thanks, so much. I think the main point is we think it is dangerous to think that the

military should be the prime tool to solve our domestic political disputes. And we don't think a call to do that would end well.

And we're worried that raising the idea that we would turn to the military to settle an election could undermine the trust that the American people put in the military, that is an un unbiased tool of the leadership of our country.

KEILAR: And you have major concern. People have valid concerns. The military has been incredibly politicized. This is something that we've seen in the past, both parties do.

But this is something that President Trump has done on steroids, from using them in protests, or even raising the issue of activating them for protests, having military on the border when really they can't do the job that is seems they're supposed to be doing there.

What are your concerns about the long-term damage of the politicization?

GOLBY: I think, in the United States, we've been rightfully skeptical of using the military to solve our domestic political disputes since our founding.

Something that George Washington could have used his military and political power to install himself as a king. Instead, he retired and went home for several years before he was later called again to run for office. And he won the civilian political election.

I think if we fall into the idea we're going to use the military to solve our political disputes, we undermine the soul and character of our military, a military that willingly subordinates itself to the willingness of the nation.

And we would also undermine the character of our nation. One that prides itself on the nonviolent transfer of power from one party to another.

So I think the more and more we turn to the military, and the less we turn to political processes, which we do believe could handle these challenges and have handled challenges like this before, in previous contentious difficult elections as recently as year 2000, the more we turn to the military to solve those disputes, the less we'll be America.

And the less we'll stand for things that America should stand for.

KEILAR: Jim, thank you so much for bringing your academic and your past military perspective to this. We appreciate it.

And just a plug for your podcast, "Thank You for Your Service."

You are Alice are doing a great job with that. But I do miss your predecessors, Thomas and Nick. I just want to give them a plug, too.

Thank you, Jim.

If you have any story ideas or questions, e-mail me at homefront@CNN.com. And check out my column at CNN.com/homefront.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)